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Tag: NCAA

  • Twitter adds CBS to its stable of big advertisers

    Twitter adds CBS to its stable of big advertisers

    MUMBAI: Twitter has been frantically adding partners to its Amplify advertising program ever since it began informally last year with a partnership between the social network, ESPN and the Ford Motor Company. In those initial ads, the sports broadcaster sent out clips of football games, disguised in a Ford Fusion ad, as short messages on the service.

    Since then, more than a dozen other content distributors, from the Fox television network to Globosat in Brazil, have joined the program, with brands including Heineken and AT&T promoting clips from major sports events like the U.S. Open tennis tournament and NCAA basketball games and live events like MTV‘s Video Music Awards.

    Twitter recently announced that it had signed CBS, one of its biggest partners yet. The broadcast and internet network intends to use Twitter Amplify to showcase content from 42 products, from TVGuide.com to its fantasy football site.

    As an example, Twitter and CBS showed off a possible “60 Minutes in 60 Seconds” ad, which could promote content from the revered television news magazine.

  • US ad revenues for Q1 seem flat

    US ad revenues for Q1 seem flat

    MUMBAI: Total advertising spending in the US in the first quarter fell 0.1 per cent from the year-ago period, at $30.1 billion, according to the latest figures from Kantar Media.

    Cable expenditures were up by 5.2 per cent, thanks to an increase in the volume of ad time and stronger demand from restaurants and auto manufacturers. Spanish-language TV spending was up 13.5 per cent, marking its seventh consecutive quarter of double-digit growth. However, this is lower than the 15 per cent annual growth rate seen in 2012. The Spanish-language segment continues to be led by gains among national broadcast networks.

    There was a 5.2 per cent decline in network TV spending, primarily due to weaker prime-time ratings. The Q1 comparisons were also hurt by the fact that ad money for NCAA Final Four Games has been shifted to April. Overall, sports programming did produce ad revenue gains for the broadcast networks though.

    Spot TV spending was down, by 2.4 per cent. However, if you exclude cyclical political advertising, this area was essentially flat versus last year. Spending on syndication was down 1.1 per cent.

    “It has been a lackluster start for 2013, with flat year-over-year results due in part to strong 2012 growth caused by political and Olympic ad spending,” said Kantar Media North America chief research officer Jon Swallen. “Data from the early second quarter are mixed, suggesting marketers are still being cautious and conservative with ad budgets. However, there are some bright spots, including healthy growth for Hispanic media and outdoor.”

  • TNT, TBS to offer live streaming 24/7

    TNT, TBS to offer live streaming 24/7

    MUMBAI: US media conglomerate Time Warner has announced that its cable networks TBS and TNT are about to become the first entertainment networks in the US to stream on-air content live across multiple platforms 24/7, including through the networks‘ websites and a pair of newly created Watch TNT and Watch TBS apps. The announcement was made during TNT and TBS‘ annual Upfront presentation in New York.

    Live streaming the company adds is the latest phase in the rollout of TV Everywhere, the industry-wide initiative that gives subscribers to cable, satellite and telco video services access to more of their favorite shows across a wide range of digital platforms.

    Turner Entertainment Networks president Steve Koonin said, “Starting this summer, subscribers will be able to watch TBS and TNT live – anytime, anywhere, on multiple devices. Tablets and smartphones become television sets, bringing new opportunities for us and for advertisers”

    TNT and TBS will begin their live streaming just as both networks are in the midst of the their summer programming, which for TNT includes returning series ‘Rizzoli and Isles‘, ‘Falling Skies‘, ‘Major Crimes‘. TBS‘ summer lineup includes the second season of the sitcom ‘Sullivan and Son‘ and the new series ‘Deon Cole‘s Black Box‘ and ‘Deal With It‘. Also available through live streaming will be TNT‘s coverage of the NBA; TBS‘s regular-season and playoff coverage of Major League Baseball; and both network‘s coverage of the NCAA Division I Men‘s Basketball Championship.

  • Hunger Games grosses $250 mn in 10 days

    Hunger Games grosses $250 mn in 10 days

    MUMBAI: New releases Wrath of the Titans and Mirror Mirror could not survive the wrath of Hunger Games. The Lionsgate film, in its second weekend, grossed $61.1 million crossed $250 million in only 10 days-the fastest ever for a non-sequel.

    Hunger Games grossed $34.8 million in its second weekend of play at the foreign box office, putting its cume at $113.9 million and global total at $364.9 million.
    Wrath of the Titans grossed $34.2 million, compared to the $61.2 opening of Clash of the Titans two years ago. Warner‘s knew the sequel wouldn‘t match that number since Clash of the Titans opened on Good Friday, a holiday.
    “We made the decision to open even with Hunger Games and the NCAA Final Four baskeball games so that we could play through the heart of the holidays,” said Warner Bros. president of domestic distribution Dan Fellman.
    Fellman pointed out that Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows also opened to substantially less than the first Sherlock Holmes, or $39.6 million versus $62.3 million, but that the sequel eventually caught up and has now surpassed the first film.
    Wrath of the Titans did far better overseas over the weekend, opening to $78 million and beating Hunger Games, which has been a softer play internationally outside of English-speaking territories. Wrath‘s global opening is $112.2 million.
    Wrath of the Titans, playing in a total of 4,127 locations, drew 65 per cent of its revenues from 3D runs. That included including more than 290 IMAX theatres, which generated $4.7 million in ticket sales, or 14 per cent of the total gross. Domestically, Wrath received a B+ CinemaScore, compared with a B for Titans.
    On the other hand, Mirror Mirror succeeded in luring families, who made up 60 per cent of the audience. While kids under the age of 12 made up 37 per cent of the audience, their parents made up 23 per cent.
    Mirror… is the first of two Snow White movies opening this year, though Universal‘s Snow White and the Huntsman, which bows in the summer, isn‘t a family film.